03
About us. Real, fun, focused.
We are a creative & production studio founded in Saint John, USVI. We thrive on bringing ideas into motion, moving the needle for our clients, and protecting & preserving what matters most.
Kenips is a synergy of our legacy companies, TellTale-Pictures and Ottworks-Productions, and is the outcome of our post-hurricane-Irma rebranding and refocusing of what we do, like to do and, therefore, do well. We are fusing together our advocacy with our commercial skills in order to shift the narrative and the direction of Tourism and its myriad related fields. Preservation and admiration for things indigenous, ancestral, and long standing, must be todays themes or they will be lost. Commerce forever changes things too fragile to restore and the things that make people and places popular are the same things that destroy them when not well protected. So, we set out to do good for posterity as well as for ourselves.
Please join us. Everyone’s efforts help!
Eric Zucker
Founder & Chief Creative Officer
Eric is a born-and-raised Virgin Islander who attended Columbia University and learned how to make film. When he returned home, many big commercials were using the Virgin Islands as a location so Eric worked with some great A list productions and talent. Over time, Eric's focus became directing/Dp commercials and short films for top clients. However, he never gave up on making movies and was days away from principal photography to direct a feature film when Hurricane Irma hit all Virgin Islanders hard.
Eric wrote "Natural”, a feature sports drama, and was negotiating making it when Covid hit. During Covid Eric went small and heartfelt and created Sunlit St John, to protect his beloved home. As Covid receded, he made a tiny gratis spot for his kids’ newly formed sailing team which not only reconnected him to his own sailing history, but also gave birth to “AMINA”-- a feature length screenplay for an island drama that’s in development to be shot predominantly in the US Virgin Islands in Winter 2024.
Ingrid Ott-Zucker
Founder & Head of Production
Born and raised in Germany, Ingrid ventured to NYC and quickly rose in the ranks at Elite modeling agency. When love struck, she headed to the islands and started anew, bringing her production talents to St. John. With her great reputation and long list of former colleagues and clients, Ingrid quickly attracted multiple shoots from near and far with many big names coming back many times. Ingrid is dedicated to delivering the best industry standards in the islands while protecting our cherished natural and cultural treasures for the long run.
Wondering what a kenip is?
Elsewhere called the "genip" or "quenepa", many Virgin Islanders say "kenip." The kenip tree is large with a usually straight trunk with many branches bearing many oval shaped leaves. Its fragrant flowers grow in clusters at branch ends. Also found in clusters is its round fruit, covered with a green leathery skin and edible pinkish acidic yet sweet inner pulp. Don’t bite into it! The pulp holds a large seed. Locally, the fruit has also been used to make jelly and wine, and fruit kernels are occasionally roasted and eaten like nuts. Locals and tourists alike love them!
CONTACT US
